This disclosure relates to improvements to unpowered material moving devices. Examples of material moving devices such as shovels are disclosed herein. The examples disclosed have ergonomic designs which reduce extraneous work required and lessen strain experienced by users.
Existing shovels typically comprise a head for transporting or moving a load of material, for example snow, dirt, gravel, etc., an elongated handle with one end rigidly connected to the shovel head, where the elongated handle can be characterized by a central axis extending away from a rear portion of the head generally in the direction of a longitudinal centerline of the head, and a grip connected to the second end of the long shovel handle. Users of traditional shovels typically grab the shovel grip at the end of the elongated handle with one hand and grasp the elongated shovel handle with their second hand placed near where the elongated handle couples to the head. Users of traditional shovels need to bend down to lift material. This requires users to either engage their legs to lift, or if they lift improperly to engage their backs risking potentially injury. The user's hands are displaced away from the typical locations of the center of mass of the head (when loaded with material) requiring users to react torques that arise when the shovel is lifted. Requiring users to bend over and react extraneous torques makes traditional devices less efficient to use.